"[The book includes] worn-out anecdotes from previously published memoirs written by his subordinates, from which Bush lifts quotes word for word, passing them off as his own recollections. He took equal license in lifting from nonfiction books about his presidency or newspaper or magazine articles from the time. Far from shedding light on how the president approached the crucial "decision points" of his presidency, the clip jobs illuminate something shallower and less surprising about Bush's character: He's too lazy to write his own memoir."

1. Harriet Harman receives the MrShaw award for quickest turnaround this week. Earlier in the week Mrs Harman decided to open her mouth and accuse Danny Alexander of being a ginger rodent. Great stuff, had me giggling for a wee while. Harriet went onto to say ""There's something deeply unnatural that's happened in Scotland.". I'm popping up to Hadrian's Wall this weekend to see if the Ghost of Robert Burns, William Wallace and Gregor Fisher (the man, not the ghost) are leading a group of disgruntled Scots to Parliament to the tune of "Scots Wha Hae". In the interim, the Ginger rodent in person has stated via his Twitter account something he feels is funny and cute, but has come across as a bit of a twit.… Continues …

On the same day that Merapi started erupting, there was a magnitude 7.7 earthquake off Sumatra that sent a tsunami crashing into the Mentawai islands. The latest death toll stands at 449 and is certain to rise.

And now Krakatoa is rumbling to life (video here). Or more accurately, Anak Krakatau (meaning literally 'child of Krakatoa'), the volcano which arose from the ashes after the original volcano blew itself to smithereens in 1883 in the loudest explosion in modern history.… Continues …

Tony Blair would be a wise man to check around the house (all 7 of them) to see if any "valuables" were missing, including copies of his memoirs, several watches and possibly other gifts presented due to his exploits as Super Politician Man/Two Faced Greedy Little Robber Toad and quite possibly pictures of his own signature!

Nevermind trying to understand the fourth dimension. It turns out that the good ol' third dimension, loved and relied upon by millions worldwide, may in fact be nothing more than a holographic illusion, and that the entire universe really exists in just two dimensions.

"The universe-as-hologram theory is predicated on the idea that spacetime is not perfectly smooth, but becomes discrete and pixelated as you zoom in further and further, like a low-res digital image. This idea isn’t novel; recent experiments in black-hole physics have offered evidence that this may be the case, and prominent physicists have proposed similar ideas. Under this theory, the universe actually exists in two dimensions and the third is an illusion produced by the intertwining of time and depth. But the false third dimension can’t be perceived as such, because nothing travels faster than light, so instruments can’t find its limits."

1. This story, published here by The Telegraph is about claims that Jane Austen, one of Englands most famous novelists was heavily edited and was by and large written by two people. Good Stuff. The News article, not Jane Austen. Give me Terry Pratchett any day of the week.

2. The details of Dr David Kelly's death have been made public, despite previous statements that this would not be released for 70 years, in an attempt not to distress the family with Headlines regarding the subject. The findings seemed to have pleased no one and caused a lot of finger pointing and debate over whether the findings report might, just might, been tampered with long before it was started, or just a load of piffle that somebody made up in a in the pub, while eating pork scratching's and drinking a Bitter.

3.The Government, bless them have decided that if they build on a green belt, then there is nothing we can do about that. Incredulous.

Who among us hasn't daydreamed about cars that could drive themselves? Dream no more — that sort of technology is literally just around the corner, as Google has been test-driving these new cars on over 100,000 miles of California road. Not surprisingly, the computer-controlled vehicles are safer than human drivers, with only one accident in all that testing, and even that one was caused by human error.

Other benefits include better fuel efficiency, less-maddening traffic jams (computers aren't inclined to slow down to rubber-neck at accidents as they pass, which should be less frequent anyway), and the ability for the passengers to engage in other pursuits, like checking their Gmail accounts. Presumably Google would also attempt to harness the potential of its cloud computing endeavors, with these new vehicles collaborating and communicating with each other to improve performance even further.… Continues …

Everyone knows China is planning to take over the world. But with most of the focus centered on their booming economy, the Asian giant is quietly putting together an entirely different strategy, one which involves domination of natural resources. As the importance of oil dwindles over the next few decades, what will become the new scarcity? The answer is "rare earth".

Rare earth elements are perhaps not so much rare as they are expensive and difficult to extract. They're used in the manufacturing of computers, LCD screens, wind turbines, car parts, cellphones, missiles, light bulbs, solar panels, and countless other technological necessities. To call them essential would be an understatement. And China controls 97 percent of them.